Change of Ideals
by BritishAlien
Summary: Ten anomalies appear around the ARC. Nick knows that Helen is behind it. He goes into each of them to find the woman he loves. But then his world is turned upside down. Primeval/Doctor Who crossover


Primeval/Doctor Who crossover

Disclaimer: Hello, this is my first Primeval fan fiction. I have been a massive fan of the show since it started and I can't believe it's been cut. Now this is an alternate ending for Nick. Before I force myself to watch his demise, I wanted to write this. It's just a little thing which I cooked up. A sort of Primeval/Doctor Who crossover. Reviews and comments would be most appreciated. I hope you like it and all I ask of you it to enjoy this! Happy reading!

'_Three o'clock in the afternoon and Connor still hasn't done anything wrong?'_ Lester was beginning to ponder as the dullest day since the day before passed by. For three weeks there had been nothing. Three weeks of absolute silence. No anomalies, no creature attacks, nothing. Although the team was thankful for a bit of a rest, they were becoming increasingly worried.

Connor had stated the point that in films, when there was radio silence it usually meant that they'd completed their job. No more anomalies. They could go home. Abby had added that films were made up and they were currently living in the real world. Connor's line of enquiry was stopped in its tracks immediately.

Nick was being more wary. To him, radio silence for a substantial amount of time meant something big was over the horizon. He hoped that he was wrong, but the worst always seemed to come galloping round the corner in this kind of situation.

Everybody, was now on high alert. Nick had instructed him to put the ARC on red alert as a necessary precaution. Lester didn't much care for this as it cost him money and a considerable amount of time filling in paperwork, to explain why ARC was constantly on red alert. But if that's what was needed to make sure they were ready incase of an attack, then he had to obey.

Four o'clock, still nothing. Some men were beginning to go home, there was no point in staying if nothing was going to happen. Nick and his team were sitting in the anomaly research centre's main hall. Sitting in a circle around the anomaly detector. Every so often, everyone would decide that Connor should go off and get them all a coffee, but not for the last three hours. They'd sat complete still, in silence. Just staring at the detector. Just wanting something to happen. Even if it was a false alarm. Even a stupid practice fire drill would be something. But no. Nothing for three solid hours.

Connor stood up from where he had been incarcerated in his chair for the best part of three hours. He stretched as though he'd just been in a long car journey and yawned. Which the others thought wholly inappropriate as it was four o'clock, he'd only been up four hours. He walked towards the doorway that led to the outside world, which led home.

'Night all, see you tomorrow.' He said, waving as he opened one door.

'Where do you think you're going?' Nick called, from where he was sitting. A mug of coffee cradled in his hands.

'Home…' as the word left his mouth. Red lights started flashing, a loud piercing alarm started ringing its way throughout the corridors of the ARC. Connor turned back, face disappointed that he was unable to go home. He faced Nick, who was smiling.

'Sorry, pal. Not going home just yet.' He laughed as he got up and placed his coffee on the floor.

Everybody walked over to the anomaly detector and the image was a shock to everyone. Ten anomalies had sprung out of nowhere. All centred around the ARC in a wide circle.

'What the hell?' Connor said, as his eyes met with the anomaly detector's screen. He pushed his way past a couple of people and started typing away at the various keyboards. 'It's not a hoax. Ten fully fledged anomalies. Appeared at the same time. Each anomaly is two hundred metres away from the ARC. This isn't fake. This is real.'

'I can bleeding see it's real. Just look out the window, Connor.' Lester had walked down from his office up on high and had come to see what his team were going to do.

'I told you there'd be something big.' Nick said, wishing he hadn't.

'Yeah, and we all wanted to ignore you. Why is it you're always right?' Lester asked, solemnly. He didn't give Nick time to answer. 'Ok, I want small groups of men to go to each anomaly and set up a cordon around it. You are to monitor and protect the anomaly. If anything comes through the anomaly, you are to catch it and bring it back to be analysed. Is that quite clear?' he shouted. One hundred soldiers cried the same dull response. '_Sir…'_

As Lester was ordering everybody about and the hustle and bustle of hundreds of soldiers began, Nick and his team escaped to the lab. Jenny was busy making phone calls. Anybody who could help them try to disguise ten large glowing orbs from the public would be greatly helpful. She'd be on the phone for some time.

Meanwhile, Abby was running around trying to get some sense out of the guys from the lab. They weren't listening to her. They were clever, but they could be extremely frustrating when they wanted to be.

Connor and Nick walked into one of the empty labs.

'Are you thinking what I'm thinking?' Connor said. Nick nodded his head.

'It's Helen. Alright, if there had been two, even three anomalies it wouldn't have bothered me. They'd just be like any other. But ten in a circle around the ARC, its not just a coincidence. It had to be planned with scrutinising attention to detail.' Nick walked over to an empty examination table, placed both his palms on it and just stared at the blankness of the table.

'What I don't get, is why she does this?' Connor said. 'Why is she out to get us, to get you… You were husband and wife. Why has she grown to hate…'

'Don't say it. We still are husband and wife and I still care for her. I'm going into those anomalies…'

'What all of them?'

'…and I'm gonna find her. 'Cos I'm as much in the dark as you are as to why she is doing this. I'm gonna find out if it kills me.'

Two hours later Nick and the rest of the team were standing at the first anomaly. Lester was standing next to him. He had insisted that Nick were to be accompanied by a guard, just in case. Nick had argued that there was no point, but Lester continually pointed out that it was security policy. Nick had let it lie.

'And we can't stop you?' he said.

'If you even try, I'll not be held responsible for my actions…' Nick replied, a thin smile spread across his face as he and the soldier entered the first anomaly. He only had half an hour in each one, so he had to make time count.

Outside, Abby was checking the energy fields of the anomalies. All were holding strong and seemed like they'd be there for a good few hours at least.

This process repeated itself. Nick would enter the anomaly, search around and come back out again. Every time his face showed disappointment.

'Helen isn't making this easy for us, is she?' he joked as he entered the fourth anomaly.

'There is no logical explanation to go through all the trouble to create ten anomalies for nothing. There has to be a point.' As he entered the sixth. His pleas for more time were becoming less encouraging. Lester was ready to close down the operation then and there, but he knew that if he did close it down, he would receive considerably less respect and trust than he was receiving from the team already.

It'd been four and a half hours since they'd started exploring the anomalies. Four and half hours of disappointment and mindless waiting. All of them were becoming tired and annoyed, but Nick insisted that they carried on.

They had reached the last anomaly. All others were beginning to close, but this final one was still holding strong.

'Helen has to be in this one. I'll find her, and I'll bring her back.' Nick whispered, as he was about to step into the final anomaly.

'And if you fail?' Lester threatened.

'You can fire me.' Nick replied, sarcasm spread over his words. Nick knew that Lester couldn't touch him.

'Fine by me.' Lester replied with his ever present thin, smile staring back at him. Nick stepped back into the anomaly, for the last time. He waved at them all and disappeared. Now the final waiting game of the day had begun. Lester had joked to Abby that he'd preferred it when there was nothing to do, which had received some snide comments in return.

It had been two hours. Nick and the guard had been in the final anomaly for two hours. All those outside the anomaly were becoming extremely anxious. Everybody was worrying whether the worst had happened. But Connor insisted that Nick was fine and that they'd appear any second. That had been an hour ago and all were becoming concerned. Abby was checking the data for the other anomalies , she found that the other nine had closed. She was thankful that they didn't have to worry about those anymore. However, when she began to check the information on the current anomaly, she found something that she wished she hadn't. She checked and double checked the information, before running over to Lester and Connor.

'The anomaly's closing. The energy readings are decreasing at such a rate, the scanners can't track it. We need to get them out…now!' Abby shouted. Lester nodded. He turned his head to a group of guards, who were ready and waiting to go through the anomaly. He gave them the signal and they began to advance on the glowing orb. They were just about to enter it, when a guard staggered out. His clothes were ripped and covered in dust. He wasn't alone. He was dragging another man along on the floor. This man's face was covered by a brown coat, but Abby could tell he was badly injured. His clothes were badly ripped and there were multiple deep cuts in his skin. Just as both men were clear of the anomaly, it closed. The golden orb expanded slightly before retracting and closing in on itself. The usual hum that the anomaly gave out ceased and left the surrounding area in complete silence. Lester strode over to the guard who was now flat on his back, out of breath and exhausted. He bent down and grabbed the guard by the collar. The guard was wrenched off the floor. His head lolled back, but Lester wanted the truth and he wanted it now.

'What the hell happened in there? Where's Cutter?' he shouted at the poor man, before letting go of the guard's collar. The guard pushed himself off the floor. Every movement looked painful. Abby could see that as Lester began to interrogate the guard, a small group of men ran over to the other man.

'Don't remove the coat…'the guard panted, before turning back to Lester.

'Answer me, man. What happened?'

'We walked into the anomaly. It was just sand dunes. Mile after mile of them…' he panted. 'And it was boiling hot. Just like a desert. Cutter said he'd seen a shadow pass over one of the dunes. I didn't believe him, I thought he was hallucinating, but then I looked up. A woman was standing on one of the dunes a couple of hundred metres away…'

'Helen?' Connor had run over to the guard and had now joined in the conversation, his voice filled with worry.

'That's what Cutter said. He told me to follow, but stay at a safe distance away. Just incase I needed to run back. We walked up the dune and this woman just stood there. Scrutinising our every move. When we got there, she insisted that she talked to Cutter alone. I didn't want to leave him, in fact I insisted that I stayed, but Nick ordered me to leave them alone. So I stayed at the top of the dune as she and Nick walked down to the bottom of it. I could see them.'

'What were they doing?' Jenny asked, she and the rest of the team had run over to listen to the guard's tale.

'Talking.' He replied.

'Just talking? Then what?' Lester insisted. The soldier was tired, he was beginning to lose concentration, but he had to tell his story.

'They talked for about an hour. I could see Cutter trying to reason with the woman, but she wasn't having any of it. Nick was shouting. Something about joining our side. Again, she refused and she pulled a gun from her belt. I didn't think she'd do anything, I thought it was insurance, you know. I was wrong. She pulled the trigger, shot him right in the middle of the forehead.' The soldier brought his hand to his brow and pointed to a point just above the nose. 'He fell to the floor. I ran down the dune, trying to shoot back at her. By the time I got to the bottom of the dune, Nick was laying on the floor, covered in his own blood. And this woman was running along the dune, off into the sunset, laughing. A haunting cackle that would've sent shivers down anybody's spine.' His story was chilling, but Lester needed to know more.

'Anything else?'

'I took off my coat and wrapped it round Nick's face. The sight of it…it made me feel sick. Then I carried him. Put him on mi' shoulders and I carried him back up the dunes. We had to get back here. Couldn't stay there much longer. We were in sight of the anomaly, when I saw movement in the sand. And this bloody big scorpion thing leapt out of the sand. Six foot tall, it was. I put Cutter on the floor and started shooting at this thing. It was so fast. It went round me and started attacking Cutter. Dug its teeth in, claws and fangs. Started eating the body. I continued shooting at it. It got tired of him and turned on me. Finally killed the little sod. And dragged what was left of the body through the anomaly and back home.' He finished his story. He felt happy that he'd gotten the horrors off his chest.

'So is that Nick?' Lester said pointing to the man with the coat wrapped round his face.

'Please, let me go.' The guard complained. Pain was shooting down every nerve in his body. Why couldn't Lester leave him be.

'Just tell me, is that Cutter?' The guard nodded, then pointed to the man with the coat around his face. 'Thank you…' Lester said. The guard slumped onto the ground and fell onto his back. He was unconscious and he welcomed the darkness.

Lester and the rest of the team ran over to the man with the coat draped around his face. He had been lifted onto a stretcher and a small group of medics were dressing his wounds. Lester without thought, pulled the coat off the man's face. They were all expecting to see Nick's face covered in blood. His face damaged and in an expression that showed his last moments, his last thoughts. But they didn't see that. It wasn't Nick's face. The man's face was glowing slightly. In fact, his whole body was. Through the rips in his clothing, they could see the skin resealing itself where there had been large cuts. Bruises were disappearing, it was like there were never any injuries at all. The whole team looked on in amazement as the man who was supposed to be Nick, stopped glowing and his breathing recommenced.

Back at the ARC, it had been a couple of hours since the last anomaly had closed. And the man who was supposed to be Nick had woken up. And yes, it had been confirmed that this stranger was Cutter. Jenny didn't understand how, she didn't want to know.

Now, she sat in Nick's office. Staring at the metal construction that was going to help them detect anomalies, but Nick was the only one who understood it. She stared at the smooth curves that curled across the room, creating this beautiful structure that stood before her. It was quite remarkable. How Nick had created it she would never know. Sitting in his office now, seemed wrong. Paperwork that he hadn't got round to finishing was sitting at his desk. Post-it notes were stuck over the walls. A mosaic of fluorescent pinks, yellows and greens.

His wallet was left on the table. Inside were a couple of photos. Jenny couldn't quite see what they were of. They both included two people. She got off the seat she had been sitting on for the last twenty minutes and walked over to the wallet. She didn't need to touch it, it was already open at the two pictures. One was of Nick and Helen. They both looked so happy. Jenny thought it must've been taken many years ago. Nick had loved Helen all this time. That's what got to Jenny. If the guard was telling the truth, then what Helen had done was unbelievable. And Nick still loved her? How could he do that?

Her concentration was beginning to slip, after all it was late. So she turned to the other photo. This shocked her. It contained Nick and herself. But it wasn't her. She had never had a picture taken with him, to her knowledge. Was this the mythical Claudia Brown that Nick had been so fond of? Before she could even begin to answer that question, she heard footsteps. She quickly turned round and ran back to the chair, which was quite a challenge in 3" high heels. She barely reached it, when Lester opened the door and walked into the room.

'So this is where you've been. Why did you feel the need to come to this ghastly place?' he asked, walking round the colossal construction that dominated the room.

'I don't know. It just felt obvious.'

'As obvious as Connor doing anything vaguely helpful.' Lester commented. Jenny chuckled. ' I've got to get back to work. Cutter's gone and given us some more bloody paperwork to fill in.'

'So, you're positive that it's Nick?' she asked. She didn't know what reply she wanted from him. She didn't know which answer would be worse. It was Nick and somehow his outward appearance had changed, which scared Jenny more than anything else she'd seen in this job. Or it wasn't Nick, and he was stuck in the world behind the anomaly forever.

'We're positive. Now, I want you back at work in ten minutes.' Jenny nodded. Lester had finished his lap of the room and walked out the door. Jenny was about to go back over to Nick's wallet. However, Lester's head poked back around the door. 'Five minutes.' He said before finally leaving and strolling off down the corridor.

She finally thought that she was alone, when she heard another scuffling of feet outside the office. The door swung open and new Nick entered the room. He noticed Jenny straight away and gave her a reassuring smile. Jenny returned his smile and then continued to stare at the anomaly sculpture. Nick carried on walking and turned into the small cupboard that was attached to his office. Jenny could see him in the other room. He was sorting through some files in one of the cabinets. His soft blonde curls had disappeared to be replaced by spiky brown hair. He turned back round and strolled back into the room, clasping three files in his hands. His face was thinner and his eyes shone a bright blue.

Back at the anomaly site, Jenny didn't want to believe that it was Nick. Now she saw him, walking about, getting on with Nick's work. It was becoming harder and harder not to believe it was Nick.

After he had placed the files on his desk, he picked up the wallet. Staring at the pictures for a second and then placing it in his back pocket. He then walked round to where Jenny was and sat on the work surface next to her.

'Hi' he said, nervously. The cool, Scottish accent that Jenny was so fond of, had disappeared. Replaced by a gruff, but soft tone. She could detect that he was anxious and still getting used to his new self.

'Hello,' she replied, confidently 'How are you feeling?'

'Not bad on the whole. Just getting use to things. Those photos in my wallet, it seems like it happened to someone else… Not me.' He gave an uneasy smile. Still not wanting to accept the change himself.

'But you are. You're still Nick Cutter.' She reassured him.

'I'm glad you think so. I'm not so sure.' He laughed nervously.

'You'll get used to it, in time. I bet you will. It's just confusing. That's all.' She stared into his eyes. They were filled with care, but at the same time they were filled with worry.

'Now you know how I felt with Claudia…' His new voice seemed to give the sentence more meaning than it had ever had before.

'Don't start that nonsense again.' Jenny replied, a slight chuckle in her voice.

'It's true though. You can't deny it now. Things change when you go through anomalies. People change. You can't hide from the fact. We're both living proof of that.'

'No, Nick. You're living proof of that. I'm not.' She didn't want to shout, especially now, but she couldn't help herself. She could see the hurt in Nick's face. 'I'm sorry.'

'Don't worry about it. It's the price you pay for going through all these anomalies. No matter how careful you are, something's gonna change.'

'Is it worth it?' Jenny asked. She couldn't quite believe she'd said that, but it was out now. She couldn't retract it.

'Sometimes. Seeing all those worlds. All that is, all that was, all that ever could be. That part's worth it. I wouldn't change that bit for anything. But it's not worth the effort we put in if it can decide the lives of people like Russian roulette.' When Nick finished, Jenny looked at her watch. It had been ten minutes since Lester had barged in.

'I've got to get back to work. You're accident has created no end of paperwork.' She smiled.

'I didn't know dying would create so much fuss. Sorry, if I've caused any trouble.'

'That's ok. As long as you're fit and well. I don't think Lester will give you too hard a time.' She joked.

'And I won't get any time off, either.' Nick laughed. Jenny stood up and walked over to the door.

'And I never changed. I've always been Jenny Lewis.' She said, pushing the door open and walking off down the corridor. The walkway was empty. No guards, nobody. Silence. She could think to herself. She thought she'd gotten the point across. New Nick was pleasant enough. She could grow to like him. He seemed quieter, but she was sure that would pass. He seemed less fierce than he had once been. But Nick was Nick. Nothing in the world could change that.

Just as she was about to turn on to the next corridor. She heard a crash of doors flying open. She turned back only to see Nick walking down the corridor to her.

'You know what, at least I can accept it. I'm not refusing to acknowledge it. You're denying someone's life. All I'm asking of you is to entertain the notion that there was someone called Claudia Brown. And that I…that I…' Nick stuttered.

'What? That you what?'

'That I had feelings for.' Nick finished his sentence. There was a short silence.

'As long as you consider that there was, and maybe there still is a man, called Nick Cutter…' she turned away from him and walked slowly towards the end of the corridor. She then turned back to face Nick '…who I loved.' She gave a sweet smile as she turned onto the next corridor and back to work.


End file.
